Somewhere in Heaven
by chocolate3271
Summary: "Somewhere in heaven." Will said to the stranger next to him. "Somewhere in heaven there's a designer, a socialite and an actor reeking havoc on the afterlife."
1. Chapter 1

Rained poured down on that day onto a man in a suit staring a three headstones. By each stone he placed something next to it that reminded him of the person beneath them. Today the items were a bottle of scotch, a brown scarf and a single lavender ribbon.

The man had the same ritual every Sunday. When most went to church, he came here. Every week he came to the same spot sporting a small picnic lunch and three new items. He never missed a week rain, shine or snow. He could be found have a conversation with the headstones like they could understand him. That rainy day a passerby in the cemetery stopped to talk to the man.

"Hey." The stranger said. "Can I join you?"

The man responds with a nod as he settled down onto his blanket. The stranger sits beside him.

"I'm Sam by the way" The stranger says. "Who are we talking to here?"

"I'm Will Truman." The man responds. "These are my friends. Here you have Karen Walker, who comes off as a witch on the surface but when you get to really know here. She's really not a bad person. Then you have Jack McFarland. My best friend for as long as I can remember. He was never afraid to be himself and was truly one of a kind. Then you have my Grace. I mean Grace Adler. My best friend. My confidant. My greatest ally. My whole world."

"They were all so young." Sam says his eyes scanning the dates etched into the stones.

"Yeah." Will said. "They were. I used to have it all. You wouldn't believe the shenanigans the four of us used to get into. I'm telling you they could make a tv show about us."

"I'd watch it." Sam says.

"Just as fast as the times began for us they ended abruptly. October 17, 2004 to be precise."

_Flashback _

_The phone was ringing off the hook at Grace Adler Designs. Orders from were flooding in from clients about fall decor. The day had been so crazy both Grace and Karen were there late. _

"_I think that's the last one." Grace said clicking the phone down on receiver._

"_Finally honey." Karen says putting down her magazine. "My buzz is wearing off." _

"_God I'm hungry." Grace says closing her design book. "I could really go for some Chinese food." _

_Before Karen could respond the knob on the door turned. Before either of them could see who it was. A masked burglar came tearing in. In his right hand was a gun._

"_Give me the money." He growled out. "Or I'll kill you both." _

_Grace jumped for the cash box. Her hands shook as she struggled to find the right key on her key chain to open the box. _

_While Grace struggled to open the box, the ring on Karen's finger got his attention. _

"_Gimme the ring!" He demanded. _

_He noticed more jewelry sparkling on the brunette. _

"_Gimme it all!" He yelled pointing the gun at her head. _

_Not wanting to die Karen shakily takes off her necklace, earrings and bracelet. Stopping with she got to her ring. She just couldn't bare taking it off. _

"_I said gimme the ring!" He screams. "Or I'll blow her head off!" _

_The gunman lurched across the room to where Grace was standing. Before she could even comprehend what she was doing Karen jumped on him. He could take her jewelry. She didn't care but he was going after Grace. Her Grace and she just couldn't allow it. Grabbing the back of his shirt she wrestled him to the ground. As she pinned him she lost sight of the gun. _

_Bang! _

_The gun went off. _

_Bang! _

_It went off again as the gunman got two shots off. _

_Grace had heard the gunshots go off while Karen was wrestling him to the ground. She just stood there frozen as she saw Karen roll limply off the gunman. The gunman in shock dropped the gun, looked at Grace and ran off with the cash box and Karen's jewelry. _

_Grace now working in auto pilot ran over to her friend who was now bleeding out on the floor. Dropping to her knees beside her, she puts her hand on Karen's chest. Blood was startling to form a red spreading circle all over Karen's blue blouse. _

"_H-honey." She choked out. "Bleeding." _

"_You're going to be okay, Karen." Grace tries to reassure her. _

"_N-no." Karen says. "Y-you." _

_Only then did Grace notice how wet her own blouse was getting. The gunman's second shot had pierced her shoulder._

"_Grace!" A familiar voice said from the hall. _

"_Oh thank god." Grace says. "It's Will." _

_Will had heard the shots from street level and had passed the masked man in the stairwell. He runs over to his best friend and her assistant. _

"_Help her first, Will." Grace tells him not taking her eyes off Karen. _

_Will looks at the woman laid out on the floor. A huge puddle of blood had formed around her soaking into the blue carpet. Sirens were heard in the distance as he inched towards her. He takes her hand in his as he placed his other hand on the wound causing her to wince. _

"_Sorry." Will said. _

"_G-grace." She chokes out. "G-grace." _

_Trying to offer words of comfort he whispers to her. _

"_She's right over there. She'll be okay." _

_Will's heart dropped as he felt Karen's breathing become labored and slowed under his hand. Her eyes slid shut as she gasped out her last words. _

"_Save her." _

_Just as one last breath escaped her lungs the paramedics came bursting in the room. Will gently placed Karen's hand on the floor, kissed her head gently and hurried over to Grace. _

_The paramedics had surrounded Grace. One placed pressure on her shoulder as another carefully laid her on a spinal board as a precaution. Will takes her hand. _

"_K-karen." She gasps out. "Are they bringing Karen?" _

"_Yes sweetheart." He assures her. "She'll be right behind us." _

_As they rolled Grace from the building Will made sure to block her view from the paramedic pronouncing Karen. _

_Once outside they climbed into the ambulance. Will looked out the small window to see an ME van roll up. Turning away from the sight he turns to his attention to Grace who just kept asking about Karen. _

"_She's right behind us." Will says. "I promise." _

_It was killing Will inside to lie to his best friend but he didn't want to tell her Karen's was gone in fear it could cause more damage. He knew Grace wasn't going to take it well. Just like he knew his best friend was head over heels for her assistant. _

_The ride to the hospital flew by as they sped down the streets of the city. What was once a familiar place to the lawyer all seemed so cold and foreign. The sirens whirled as the ambulance pulled into the bay. The doors flew open and Grace was pulled out. As soon as the wheels of the stretcher hit the ground she was surrounded by nurses and doctors who whisked her into the building. Will followed next to them as long as they could until they passed through two large double doors where he was forced to stay. _

"_Will!" A familiar voice calls out. _

_Will turned around to see Jack running towards him. His eyes full of more fear than Will had ever seen in them before. Jack had always been so innocent in a lt of ways. He lived in his own little world. He knew telling him about Karen would break him. He would break and Will wouldn't be able to fix him. _

"_I just got the call." Jack panted out. "Karen? Grace?" _

_Will guides him to a chair in the waiting area. _

"_Jack." Will starts. He wasn't sure he could continue but he knew this needed to come from him. _

"_Jack." He starts again. "They just took Grace back. She was shot in her left shoulder. From what I could understand she has a good chance of pulling through." _

_Jack took a deep breath and was silent a moment to let the news sink in. Will knew he and Grace had started out rocky but they had overcome their differences and became friends. Jack was silent a moment more before asking._

"_Karen?" _

_Will could hear the fear in voice. It was time to tell Jack. Taking Jack's hand in his own he began to speak. _

"_Jack, Karen...Karen didn't make it." _

_Jack was utterly silent. His grip on Will's hand fell out as he just stared at Will. He was quiet for a long moment before he stood up. Will stood up with him. _

"_I need a minute." Jack tells him. "Please don't follow me." _

_Will watched as Jack left the waiting area and disappeared down the long hallway. _

_-W&G-_

_As Jack walked down the hallway, all he could think about was that his Karen was gone. That woman was the best friend he had ever had. They had been through so much together. She trusted him to help her when she thought she was pregnant. When he found out the man he thought was his father wasn't his biological father she was there for him to cry on her shoulder. She had even gone out of her way to help him find his biological father. When she was on the brink of losing Rosario to deportation he married the maid after he saw that Karen's Rosario meant the world to her. She was always there when he needed funding or an opportunity to try something new. She was there front and center during his first Just Jack show and made an attempt to get there every week. When he wrote a play, she was the only one of his friends who read it through, told him honestly what she thought and then helped him write a new ply. She was even in it herself. _

_Lost in his thoughts Jack found himself standing outside on a small deck staring out as whatever was in front of him. The lights of the city blurred as tears filled his eyes. One escaped and rolled down his cheek. He couldn't believe she was gone. He couldn't believe it was all over. _

'_W-who's your Daddy?" Jack asked out loud, an audible crack in his voice. He longed to hear her high pitch voice respond to their usual banter. _

"_Who's your Daddy?" He asks again. _

_When receiving no response, it all became too much. Tears cascaded down his cheeks as slumped to the ground. He sobbed loud audible sobs as he sat in a pile on the cold cement. He didn't attempt to stop the tears as they dropped off his face and splashed to the ground. Never again would he be her poodle. Never again would they go on a wacky adventure. Never again would he belly bump his best friend. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Will slide down next to him. _

_Before Will could even open his mouth to attempt to say something Jack fell into the arms of the lawyer. Gripping onto Will's coat Jack sobbed into him soaking the fabric. Will could only hold the shaking man close to him. As Jack cried he uttered out one last. _

"_Who's your Daddy?" _


	2. Chapter 2

"Jack and Karen were close." Sam says.

"Extremely." Will says. "Jack was special. Jack was Jack. There isn't a better way to describe him. Nothing could stop Jack. Whatever he did, he always went after it with everything he had. He did more before he was 30 than I ever did my whole life. He wrote a play. He went to nursing school, he became a masseuse. All on my dime but he always accomplished what he went after. All he had to do to get Karen to fund these adventures were to flash her those eyes of his and she couldn't say no."

"She sounds like a giver." Sam says.

"Not really." Will says. "But she was to Jack. The night we lost her I held him for what seemed like hours until I saw Grace's doctor come through that door."

_Flashback_

_Will held Jack out on that balcony for a long while. Neither man saying a word. A man in blue scrubs comes out to the sitting area. _

"_Will Truman?" The doctor asked. _

"_That's me." Will said standing up. _

"_I was the surgeon on Ms. Adler's case." The doctor explains. "The bullet penetrated the upper left quadrant of her chest. The damage was luckily only minimal muscle damage to the area. She should make a full recovery." _

_Upon hearing the news Will sighed in relief. He and Jack followed the doctor to her room in the ICU. _

_The three of them traveled up a long white hallway. The hallway was lined with windows to rooms where patients were fighting to live. As they walked Will wondered about the patients behind the windows. What kind of lives did they lead? Were they going to walk out of here? _

_The doctor stopped in front of room 223. Will looked in the window and his heart broke at the sight of his best friend. Her red hair was spread out on her pillow. Oxygen tubes lay under her nose. Dark circles were around her eyes making them look sunk into her face. Monitor wires ran everywhere stuck to many parts of her body. The beeping sound of those monitors were the only thing heard in the silent room. Her chest breathed in and out almost mechanically. _

_Will took a deep breath and sat next to his best friend. He took her hand in his and whispers a gentle. _

"_Hey." _

_He squeezed her hand and continued. _

"_You're going to be okay." Will said. "The bullet didn't do too much damage. You'll be back up and designing before you know it." _

_He takes a deep breath. _

"_When you wake up things are going to be a little different than what you remember." He tells her. "But we'll get through it together." _

_Jack slide down in a seat next to Will. The two sat together quietly for what seemed like ages until a gasp of air from the bed made them both jump. Will looked down at the bed and saw his best friend's blue eyes looking back at him. _

"_Grace." Will says unsure what to say next. _

"_K-k-kar-karen?" She says trying to find her voice. _

_Will carefully squeezed her hand while Jack stepped from the room. _

"_Karen." Will starts. "Grace, Karen didn't." _

_Will voice had started to shake. Tears had made his eyes fog. Taking a deep breathe he starts again. _

"_Karen didn't make it." Will says as gently as he could v_

"_No." She squeaks out. "You're lying. She's not gone." _

"_I'm so sorry Grace." Will says. "I'm not lying." _

_Tears raced down Grace's face as she cried. Will carefully slid into the bed next to her and put his arm around being careful of her shoulder. Grace clings to her best friend and cried into him. Will held her close, his own tears rolling down his cheeks. Together the best friends cried for the life that was lost. _

_-W&G-_

_Karen's funeral was held five days after the shooting. At the cemetery were Karen's friends and family. There were a few of the socialites Karen had called friends. Karen's mother had been notified but chose not to show. Mason and Olivia stood in the crowd. Olivia held her big brother's hand. _

_They had a special relationship with their stepmother. She wasn't your typical step mother. She was loud and drank a lot. However they loved her and she loved them. She read to them. She played with them even if she never understood the game. Next to them was Rosario. Instead of her normal maid uniform she was wearing a black dress and matching shoes. _

_Rosario and Karen had an interesting relationship, they had their ups and downs but the rich socialite loved her maid and the maid loved her boss. Karen had gone out of her way to help Rosario when she thought she was going to lose her. A tear escapes Rosario's eye. _

_In the front of the crowd were Will, Grace and Jack. Grace clutched Will's hand. Jack stood quietly by both of them. He hadn't said much since that night. He had secluded himself in his apartment. Will went over several times a day to make him eat and shower once a day. Jack wasn't the Jack he knew anymore. He didn't do anything. He was just done. He had stopped crying. He wasn't mad. He was just done. Will was worried about him. _

_Grace wasn't much better than Jack. She had locked herself in her room and hadn't gotten out of bed. Will knew her arm was killing her. He also knew she didn't care. Her arm hurt. Her heart hurt and she just didn't care. Will got her to take her pain meds and he had made sure she ate. He went as far as to put her in the bathtub and wash her. _

_Will was so busy taking care of his friends that he himself didn't have time to mourn. At first he didn't care for Karen but as time went on he grew fond of her. For some reason Karen trusted him with her problems. He helped her with her marriage problems. She helped him get Stan as a client so he could keep his new job. He helped her keep Rosario in the country. She helped him celebrate his birthday at the ice rink. Most of all she made his Grace happy which made him happy. From the beginning she had been a terrible assistant and any other employer would have fired her but not Grace. Grace was always so drawn to Karen. Grace didn't care she was a lousy assistant. Will knew that Karen always made her laugh and made fun of her but when it came down to it Karen protected Grace. To her dying day, she protected Grace. _

_The funeral went on for about an hour. People got up and spoke about the spunky woman. Shared stories and memories. At one moment they listened to Karen's favorite song. Jack's heart broke as he heard the opening arpeggio. _

"_Unforgettable." Frank Sinatra's voice came from the speaker. "In every way." _

_Tears streaked down his face he listened to their song. They both had loved this song and often sang it together. He felt Will's hand slide into his own. It was a small gesture but it helped Jack feel better. _

_The funeral ended and the three went back to Will's apartment. All three of them went back to Will's apartment. When the arrived Grace settled onto the couch. She felt so tired and emotionally drained. Her arm was beginning to throb. She closed her eyes and dozed into a rough sleep. _

_Will watched as his best friend succumbed to sleep. He knew she needed the rest and oddly enough she looked peaceful sleeping on the couch. To keep himself from going crazy Will did some cleaning tasks and tidied the apartment. He did this for a few hours until it was time to wake Grace for her pill. _

_He walks up behind her sleeping form in the same position she had been in for the last several hours. She had a dreamy look on her face like she had found peace in a dream. He puts his hand on her shoulder to gently shake her. _

"_Grace." He says softly. "It's time to wake up." _

_His soft shake did nothing as she stayed in her slumber. Will shook harder. _

"_Grace." He says a bit louder. _

_On his third attempt his hand brushed her neck. _

"_Gra.." Will starts. _

"_Something didn't feel right. He placed his fingers on her neck. His heart sunk when he felt nothing. His own heart pounded in his ears. _

"_Grace!" he yelled. _

_Will shook his best friend whose chest showed no signs of breathing, whose pulse was gone. The designer showed no signs of life. His heart pounding and hands shaking he grabbed the phone from the side table and punched in 3 numbers. Before the operator could speak Will blurted out his name and address. He begged the operator to send an ambulance. _

_Just as Will told the operator what was happening Jack burst into the room. _

"_Will what's going on?" Jack asks. "I heard you screaming." _

"_There's something wrong with Grace!" Will says in a panicked tone. _

_Jack ran over to his best friend and tried to help. They lay her flat on the floor and Will begins chest compressions. The limp designer ceased to move and Will's efforts seemed to be failing. Jack held Grace's hand begging her to come back. Will continued CPR until the paramedics arrived. Jack ran downstairs to let them in. _

"_Come on Grace." Will begged through tears. "Don't do this to me." _

_Jack and the paramedics came running into the apartment moments later. The paramedics immediately got to work on Grace. Will wouldn't stop CPR, Jack gently pulled him away. _

"_Let them help her, Will." Jack tells him. _

_Will could only nod as both of them watched the paramedics. Will winced every time he heard words like no pulse. _

"_On my count." One paramedic says. "One. Two. Three!" _

_The paramedics effortly lifted Grace onto the waiting gurney. Will and Jack followed them outside and into the waiting ambulance. Will climbed in with him carefully holding Grace's hand. He watched as a paramedic put in a tub into Grace's mouth and used a squeeze bag to try and get air into her. _

"_Please Grace." He thought. "Pull through this." _

_The ambulance arrived at the hospital quickly. The doctor's whisked her away' They took her into a bay room at the hospital. None of them noticing that Will was watching from the window. He watched as doctor's did chest compressions and hooked up monitors that read no signs of life. He couldn't hear what was going on in there but he knew it wasn't good. Tears had escaped his eyes as he looked at his lifeless best friend on the table. What he wasn't expecting was the doctors to stop. His heart started to race. They couldn't stop they had to save her. He watched as doctor looked at the wall clock. He knew what that meant. _

"_No!" he screamed. "You can't stop! You have to save her!" _

_Tears now blurred his vision. _

"_Grace." He yelled. _

_The walls were begging to close in. _

"_Grace!" _


End file.
